Investment guru Mike Rosen and chef-partner Richard Blais recently talked about the long journey that led to the Juniper & Ivy restaurant, set to open next week in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood.

Q: Why did you pick San Diego over other, more notable foodie destinations in the U.S.?

Richard: My goal was to get to California for lifestyle reasons. I was thinking of Northern California, to be honest, but the fact that Mike was based in San Diego made it easier. It took a couple of visits to make me realize that some of the things I liked about Northern California also existed in Southern California. The products are just as great, the farmers markets, the great produce.

Q: After 30 years in the financial investment world, why open a restaurant?

Mike: Being a fan of food, I ended up getting sucked into this food TV nonsense and I love going to restaurants. Everyone has a secret dream and mine was, I’d like to own a restaurant.

When I turned 50, my daughter said, ‘You keep talking about it, when are you going to actually do it?’ In terms of a chef, she said, who would make you happy, and I said, from the moment I saw Richard’s work on “Top Chef,” I felt a culinary kinship with Richard. She came back and handed me the name of his publicist and gave me the number. I told him I had sold a business, I went to culinary school, and we talked about philosophy. We were talking food philosophy. Could you do a French Laundry in San Diego? No. Could you do a 50-seat high-end tasting menu in San Diego and have it work out financially? I doubt it.

Q: How would you describe the concept?

Richard: It’s a restaurant that will cook delicious food. It’s not an Italian restaurant or a burger place or taco shop. That’s the concept, that it’s an anti-concept.

The menu will have a few categories: snacks, little bite-sized things for the table to share. We’ll have a big crudo or raw section, including raw vegetables. It will all be left coast: from Baja to Vancouver, also in the political sense, liberal and somewhat progressive, whether that’s technique or flavor pairings. We’ll have small plates and main plates, anywhere from $5 to $25. We’re also going to have something called four by four: $69 for 8 plates (four small plates and four snacks). It will be chef’s confidence, you have to give yourself up to the kitchen.

Q: You’re reluctant to use the term molecular gastronomy nor even talk about it, but what innovative cooking techniques will you bring to Juniper & Ivy?

Richard: We’ll be cooking with liquid nitrogen, we’ll be cooking sous-vide (vacuum-sealed in a low temperature water bath) and using lots of hydrocolloids, which are thickening agents, all of the things you’d associate with molecular gastronomy but it won’t be marketed as such. Maybe the lamb will be cooked for 72 hours in a vacuum-sealed bag, but we won’t say it on the menu.

When you start using the term, it becomes an event, but at the end of the day what sustains the business is good, solid cooking.

Q: San Diego does not yet have the culinary reputation of other major cities in the U.S. Why not, and do you think coming here will help elevate the city’s dining profile?

Richard: There’s really no reason for it. L.A. has gone through a renaissance over the last five years where L.A. is all of a sudden a big food city and there’s no reason why San Diego can’t be in the same category. I thought maybe there was a problem with the labor pool and that’s not it either. There are lots of talented young chefs in San Diego. You also can’t say the diners don’t get it. So I’d like to be in that conversation. It’s just going to take a couple of chefs and a couple of good restaurants to do that.

Mike: I feel like there are a lot of people here doing really awesome things but what I saw is we don’t have an abundance of restaurant options where you’re coming there for a business meeting, with your spouse, or on a date, or when your friend is coming to town. We have a big hole in the middle of relaxed/casual and elevated, fine dining.

Q: Why did you decide to buy the land for your restaurant project, rather than just lease from a landlord?

Mike: I did find a couple of buildings to lease, but at the end of the day, I think I’m better off owning the real estate because if 10 years from now, I decide this is not my dream and I was wrong, at least I can recover the benefit of that infrastructure by leasing the space. It’s a passion project, and there are probably better things one can do with their money.